


fallen angels

by sinequanon



Series: tiny bleach [5]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 07:59:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12338625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinequanon/pseuds/sinequanon
Summary: Urahara Kisuke has plans for how to fix things this time around; unfortunately, the hogyoku may have a slightly different idea in mind.





	fallen angels

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wanted this to further explore the idea of Kisuke as a time traveler that I briefly covered in “media vita morte sumus”, but I’m not sure these two are in any way related at this point. I can’t tell you how many times I had to go back and change things I was writing this little bugger, but this is not what I was expecting to write. Basically, this thing took me way longer than it should have to finish and I’m not sure it even makes sense anymore. (It also breaks my under 1k rule for the fics in this series, but I doubt anyone cares about that.)
> 
> Good luck!

Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell. —William Shakespeare’s  _Macbeth_

<> <> <> <>

Whatever faults it may have had, Soul Society’s greatest failing—at least in Kisuke’s opinion—was complacency. No matter what strides he and his division had made for the betterment of Seireitei, their ideas were often at best misunderstood, and at worst, ignored. Even those captains who were most willing to listen to him all too easily succumbed to the comfort of familiarity instead of looking ahead to the future.

At first, Kisuke had been still too new (and still too much in Yoruichi’s shadow) as a captain to push his observations on the unwilling; and then—by the time he was being driven out like a thief in the night—it had been too late. Perhaps pride had played a part as well; even in Soul Society, Kisuke had long been willing to explain the _whats_ and _whys_ of his inventions, but the _hows_ of his work were less likely shared.

Perhaps if he had been more forthcoming with his suspicions, the Visored would have never been hollowfied and he and Tessai banished. Maybe Aizen’s plot would have been uncovered sooner, and there would have been no need for a fifteen-year-old get involved in Shinigami business, and ultimately die to save them all. To save _him_.

(Kisuke had to tell himself that Ichigo’s sacrifice was for everyone, because if he thought about that day for too long he could still feel Ichigo’s hands like brands against his back and smell the coppery tang of the young man’s blood as it soaked through both of their clothes. He didn’t want to remember the sound of Karin’s scream, or the way the clearing had fallen so silent afterwards. It cut like a knife [gouging a little deeper each time] every time he recalled the _gratitude_ in Ichigo’s eyes as he had fallen—as if he had a reason to thank _Kisuke_ for something.)

It didn’t really matter that Ichigo was nearly twenty-five (so close and so far from fifteen) when he died; the path that led Ichigo to his death began the night he met Kuchiki Rukia, and Kisuke’s presence had only hastened that demise.

Now that he had gone back to the beginning, though, he could change as little or as much as he needed to make sure that Ichigo survived—as long as it didn’t mean giving him up completely.

It might damn his already-black soul, but Kisuke wouldn’t let Ichigo walk away. He _couldn’t_.

Even if it was the best choice, the _good_ choice.

(Because Kisuke had never been a good man.)

So many little things could stop the war, but would unmake Ichigo as well. And Kisuke would do so many other things ( _lie_ , _cheat_ , _steal_ , _kill_ ) before he ever harmed that young man again.

Still.

 _If it was war that led Ichigo to him, then Kisuke would let it come_.

It was an interesting kind of torture, knowing the future but denying himself the opportunity to poke and prod things in any given direction. More than once, he’d squashed the urge to tweak the hogyoku, just a little, or lay hints in his conversations with Shinji or Yoruichi, or inject a sly aside during a captains’ meeting.

It irked him to let so many things play out as before, but the hogyoku was a necessary evil, the Visored would be powerful allies, and Ichigo would need a reason to get stronger…

Kisuke just needed to wait a little longer.

<> <>

As traumatic as it might have been for the girl in question, Orihime’s kidnapping was just the opportunity that Kisuke needed. The genius cared about each of his student’s friends in his own way, so Kisuke would make sure the boys were as prepared as possible before they ran off to Hueco Mundo, and Kuchiki and Abarai were welcome (helpful) allies, and while they were clearing the path, Ichigo would move towards his destiny.

(The logistics would be tricky, but it was a decent-sized group with which to build a kingdom.)

Kisuke simply needed to officially introduce Ichigo and the hogyoku to each other, and the genius was certain that everything else would work out quite well. After all, the hogyoku had gotten a look at Ichigo that day on the Hill; it might be with Aizen now, but it would be _watching_ for Ichigo.

And Kisuke would be waiting for both of them.

<> <>

There was something about the hogyoku that no one knew—not its creator, or its wielder, or any of the Shinigami or arrancar that had been transformed under its guidance, and it was this:

The requests made of the hogyoku were not without price.

It was true that the orb only aided the goals of those who had the skills to achieve them, but that mattered little if those who were strong enough to endure continued to trade that strength away.

Thus far, any attempts to dissuade wish-making had gone unheard. Even when the hogyoku appeared to lose power, the Wielder continued to take more until the hogyoku had touched most of Hueco Mundo and the very fabric of the land of hollows was entwined with the orb’s will.

Neither the land of the hollows nor its current king would survive repayment. And with the loss of one realm, the others would fall soon after.

But. There was a boy.

He was strange and powerful and the hogyoku wondered what the child would wish if given the chance. If there was anyone who could ask for what was necessary and afford to pay the price, it thought that the boy might be the one.

When the boy and his companions came to Hueco Mundo, the hogyoku called out a greeting, and waited.

<> <>

Ichigo was pretty sure that this was not where he was meant to be. He’d been searching for Inoue, but he’d found himself in Aizen’s throne room instead.

Just he and the hogyoku, which kept glowing at him.

Ichigo didn't really the idea of touching the thing, but Kisuke had said that it might be the key to winning the war. If it meant undoing the harm that Aizen had done, Ichigo felt like maybe he _had_ to take it.

He just really wished he knew what it was going to cost him.

Ichigo reached for the orb.

**Author's Note:**

> Next week I’ll be posting another, larger AU Bleach story in my other series featuring Ichigo, Byakuya, and some memory issues.
> 
> See you then, and thanks for reading!


End file.
